When technological innovation converges with market opportunities, the era is endowing the machine tool industry with brand-new vitality. In this occasion, the China CNC Machine Tool Fair 2026 (CCMT2026) is set to make a grand debut. Since its launch, the exhibition has attracted extensive attention and wide participation from the global industry, the remarkable achievements of CCMT2024 will be elevated to new heights here, and the event will vividly showcase a brand-new era of intelligent manufacturing and once again demonstrate the strong appeal of China's machine tool market.

CCMT2026 will be held from April 21 to 25, 2026 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Pudong, Shanghai.

Envisioning a New Era of Intelligent Manufacturing

The core theme of CCMT2026 remains “Digitalization, Interconnection, Intelligent Manufacturing”, behind this unchanged theme reflects the continuous evolution of intelligent manufacturing in the digital era. From their initial emergence, digital interconnection and intelligent manufacturing technologies have undergone rapid iterations, up to this day, they have long transcended their original form, turning the unimaginable into reality in terms of both precision and intelligence.

The essence of the new-generation intelligent manufacturing is to integrate intelligence and green elements into a new generation of equipment. In terms of intelligent technologies, machine tool are deeply integrated with digital twins, artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things and other cutting-edge technologies, continuously elevating the performance of modern machine tool， precision machine tool have achieved nanoscale machining accuracy, along with enhanced stability and reliability, high-level automation and intelligence, and expanded application scenarios, all advancing to a higher dimension; In green manufacturing, optimized transmission efficiency and accelerated adoption of eco-friendly materials have significantly improved energy efficiency across the industry; In terms of industrial ecology, intelligent manufacturing has triggered a chain reaction across the industrial chain, where materials, components, complete machines, processes and testing are closely linked, highlighting growing synergy throughout the entire industrial chain.

Continuous technological breakthroughs drive the evolution of the ecological system. Intelligent manufacturing in the new era is at a critical stage of system restructuring and leapfrog development. Intelligent control systems, servo systems and high-precision transmission have become core components, directly determining the response speed, precision and flexibility of intelligent manufacturing equipment. Those who master equipment and software will gain influence in process databases, interface protocols and testing standards — the ability to define standards constitutes a long-term competitive advantage in manufacturing.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will fully implement the "Artificial Intelligence +" initiative, leading the transformation of scientific research paradigms, strengthening the integration of artificial intelligence with industrial development, and empowering all industries in an all-round way. For the machine tool industry, on the one hand, artificial intelligence will empower the industry comprehensively, greatly boosting production efficiency while breaking through long-standing technical bottlenecks; On the other hand, the integration of "AI + Machine Tool" will empower the manufacturing industry, the intelligent of production equipment will greatly accelerate the transformation from traditional manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing.

The 100-Billion-Yuan Market Continues to Expand

In the Chinese market, policies are catalyzing supply-side upgrading, presenting the industry with historic opportunities. On September 1^st, 2025, the Standardization Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the “Construction Plan for the High-Quality Standard System of Industrial Machine Tools”. This plan not only sets quantitative goals—formulating and revising no less than 300 standards by 2026 and achieving a 90% conversion rate of international standards, but more importantly, establishes a full-industry-chain standard framework covering 6 levels and 34 major categories, including basic and general, design and supporting, manufacturing equipment, manufacturing process, inspection & testing, and industrial application. In recent years, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and local governments have successively introduced a series of supportive policies to promote the high-quality development of the machine tool industry, and the industry will gradually shift from localization to high-end upgrading.

In terms of market performance, China has long been the world’s largest producer and consumer of machine tools, boasting a huge 100-billion-yuan market with enormous potential, in recent years, demand from emerging market has fully exploded, continuously creating new competitive arenas. The rapid development of emerging strategic industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robots has brought new growth drivers to the industrial machine tool industry. In the new energy vehicle field, the promotion of integrated die-casting technology has driven demand for large-scale five-axis gantry machining centers, the processing of components including batteries, motor housings, battery boxes, and reducer housings has become a new growth area for five-axis machine tools; The explosive growth of the humanoid robot industry has raised higher requirements for precision processing equipment, the manufacturing of core components such as precision reducers, lead screws, and guide rails demands ultra-precision grinding equipment with micron-level accuracy. The development of the low-altitude economy also deserves attention, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft widely adopt carbon fiber composites and metal hybrid structures, which create new demand for additive-subtractive hybrid manufacturing equipment.

As a sister exhibition to CIMT (China International Machine Tool Show), CCMT (China CNC Machine Tool Fair) enjoys a high-profile brand influence across the global industry. Notably, CCMT 2024 achieved breakthrough development when it resumed after the consecutive cancellations of CCMT 2020 and CCMT 2022. The exhibition saw a substantial expansion in area, a record-high number of visitors, frequent highlights of technological innovation, and enthusiastic on-site signing activities. This grand event fully reflected the development momentum and defining characteristics of the global machine tool technology and China’s machine tool market at that time. Two years on, the industry has reached a new level of development, CCMT 2026 will fully present the cutting-edge technological evolution and deeper industrial upgrading of the current machine tool industry, it will continue to bring you witness to the industry’s landmark moments, enabling every participant to experience firsthand the robust productivity of intelligent manufacturing, and to grasp the path and direction of its future development.

Source：CMTBA